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Photo Credit: Johan Carlén
Swedish heavyweights Avatar have been breaking barriers in the genre since their very first album. Now, almost twenty years later, they continue to do so. They are about to release their Don’t Go Into the Forest on Halloween. In anticipation of the album, they just released their fourth single, “Death and Glitz”. You can watch the music video for the song here! If you are going to listen to the song, I highly suggest watching the visualizer as it brings more of the atmosphere and meaning behind the song to life.
When asked about the single, lead singer Johannes Eckerström stated, “Death and Glitz' is a song about perversion and detachment. A homeless, young runaway collapses and dies on a dancefloor. The crime scene tape becomes a red velvet rope. The investigator's camera flashes like paparazzi on the red carpet. We love her for dying. Now, she's perfect. Obedient. Anything you want. "The true crime genre is as sick as the sickest goregrind band you've ever heard. Its popularity and the form in which it's being consumed, as a choice between Mickey Mouse and hospital dramas, reveals a darkness. The best ones are when it's someone young and attractive. A couple goes hiking. Only the man returns. What do we project on this very real person's very real tragedy? Do we see ourselves, with a strange envy for being so desired? Do we see a canvas on which we can paint the perfect future, if we were there to make it right? Do we completely dehumanize the victim and those who lost her, obsessed with the puzzle? No matter the reason, it is clear that no one is more obedient than the dead. People simply like it when death has a nice rack."
This single might just be Avatar’s best off their upcoming album. Just like the other three before it, it’s telling a story and follows some sort of narrative. The band has been having story/folklore inspired songs throughout the album based off of the singles so far. There is a lot for Avatar to tell through their music, and it feels like they are just getting started. To have something fresh and new after being a band for almost twenty years is a testament to Avatar’s skill and musicality. I cannot wait until Halloween to hear the rest of the album in full.
